Ask HN: What do you think of my site name? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What do you think of my site name?

4 pointsphilipbrown12 comments

What do you think of the site name http://cultivatus.com?

The site is aiming to be a technology/Internet news/design and coding blog.

What do you think?

I'm not really a fan. The name doesn't lend itself to the type of site that you have. Also, try to get something that's 3 syllables or less; it will be easier to speak, type, and remember. The "tus" suffix makes me think of a disease or germ or something nasty; not exactly the feeling you want to convey when you're trying to get eyeballs on a tech blog. I actually spent a brief period of time consulting with new businesses on their company names, so I have a little experience in this area. To get the ideas flowing, take a piece of paper or open doc and start writing down words that have anything to do with your concept, directly or tangentially. Then, start playing around with prefixes and suffixes and coming up with combinations that look and sound good. My favorite name to come along recently is Quora, it's short, sweet, and applies directly to the type of site they have. Plus, it's unique and original. My two cents. If you'd like any further advice feel free to shoot me an email (it's in my profile). Good luck!

Thanks that great. You actually highlighted some things that have been concerning me.

Thanks for the feedback!

"disease or germ..." Yes. I thought of mold growing on a lump of yogurt. Yogurt cultures.

I've studied branding and specifically naming extensively. There are two important factors: 1) don't go generic or too long 2) memorable wordsmithing improves initial recall after a person is impressed upon the brand.

After you make the impression and deliver the experience: naming does not matter.

For example: We no longer associate Hotmail with sex, but when it first came out people were afraid of the impression it would have if your address ended with it. Now, it's second nature as an old(er) web based email service.

Makes me think of culture, which tends not to make me think of your intended content. On the other hand, it's a nice name, so maybe I'd get used to it.

Thank you,

Originally it was a twist on cultivate, but I don't think it's really working.

Thank you for your feedback!

'Cultivate' was my first impression. I had no germ association.

A name for a blog is not as critical in terms of memory retention and spellability, most traffic will not come from search but from links.

Opened the link without reading the description. Expected to see something related to agriculture or at least growth in a general sense.

thinkvitamin? boingboing? google, even? I think the name doesn't matter, the content does.

Actually, you think so to: http://cultivatus.com/2011/11/30/the-real-reason-why-domain-...

The first thing I did was to check if cultivat.us was available.. It's not.

May be problematic if you want people to type it or say it.

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